What is “Efilism,” the Obscure Anti-Natalist Ideology of the Palm Springs Bomber?

When a -year-old detonated a car bomb and himself outside a fertility clinic in Palm Springs California on Saturday the local interim federal prosecutor a Donald Trump appointee was quick to accuse the bomber of harboring anti pro-life sentiment Well in a sense yes But if the suggestion was that bomber Guy Edward Bartkus was primarily motivated by abortion rights the accusation missed the point Barkus might be more accurately described not so much as anti-pro-life but rather plain old anti-life Bartkus subscribed to a fringe philosophy that opposes human life in every form Bartkus it turned out subscribed to a fringe philosophy circulating primarily among a small group of online adherents that opposes human life in every form Dubbed efilism for life spelled backwards or anti-natalism supporters of the philosophy argue that people should avoid having children because human existence is too miserable to justify Bartkus appears to have taken the ideology a step further than the greater part subscribers in dying by a suicide accompanied by a spectacular act of violence By his own account Bartkus also suffered from mental soundness problems The Saturday bombing outside the reproductive healthcare clinic left Bartkus dead and four other people injured according to leadership None of the clinic s embryos were damaged since they are stored off-site the clinic s director declared The American Reproductive Centers clinic offers services such as in vitro fertilization egg freezing and egg donation according to its website It does not offer abortion services In an online manifesto attributed to Bartkus he dubbed his views pro-mortalism All a promortalist is saying is let s make it happen sooner rather than later and preferably peaceful rather than several condition or accident to prevent your future suffering and more importantly the suffering your existence will cause to all the other sentient beings the apparent manifesto announced according to a copy reviewed by The Intercept The end goal is for the truth Efilism to win and once it does we can decisively begin the process of sterilizing this planet of the malady of life Bartkus elaborated in a -minute audio recording that his father described news outlets was authentic Police sources narrated multiple media outlets that they are examining the manifesto Basically it just comes down to I m angry that I exist Bartkus says in the audio attributed to him Nobody got my consent to bring me here Elsewhere in the audio recording Bartkus complained about IVF clinics arguing with imagined critics of his views Greatest Matter Bartkus s website also pointed to a since-blocked group on Reddit called Efilism The group s description states that EFILism is the belief that DNA and the suffering of sentient consciousness is the greatest dilemma in the universe A more academic version of the philosophy called anti-natalism is primarily associated with the South African philosopher David Benatar who has written extensively on the thesis Although the good things in one s life make one s life go better than it otherwise would have gone one could not have been deprived by their absence if one had not existed according to the Oxford University Press summary of one of Benatar s books Those who never exist cannot be deprived However by coming into existence one does suffer quite serious harms that could not have befallen one had one not come into existence While Benatar has been profiled in outlets such as the New Yorker Bartkus pointed to more notorious or obscure figures in his online manifesto Along with the writings of Sandy Hook Connecticut Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza Bartkus also directed readers to the YouTube videos of an influential figure in the small online world of Efilism who goes by inmendham The YouTuber posted a video Sunday denouncing the bombing of the fertility clinic Related The Right s Creeping Pro-Natalist Rhetoric on Abortion and Trans Robustness Care The fact is that there s people in the world who are lonely and certain that are crazy and this that and the other thing inmendham commented They have particular reason to be despondent and they have low venture in their existence and those are dangerous people Bartkus s father recounted the New York Times that he had not seen his son in years Bartkus burned down the family s house in when he was years old his father revealed Bartkus explained on his website that he had borderline personality disorder According to the Mayo Clinic people with that mental physical condition condition have a pattern of unstable intense relationships as well as impulsiveness and an unhealthy way of seeing themselves The Suicide Predicament Lifeline offers -hour endorsement for those experiencing difficulties or those close to them by chat or by telephone at The post What is Efilism the Obscure Anti-Natalist Ideology of the Palm Springs Bomber appeared first on The Intercept